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The government is to grant more money to fund the Royal Family, Finance Minister Anders Borg has announced.

The annual grant to the royals is to rise by 10.6 million kronor next year, according to the budget, presented on Thursday.

The extra money is being granted to cover improved security at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. An expected increase in the cost of Crown Princess Victoria's official duties is another reason for the increase.

The rise means that the royals will receive total grants of 110 million kronor next year, rising to 112 million in 2009 and 115 million in 2010.

The money is intended to cover the costs of the king's official duties as head of state and to pay for the upkeep of the royal family. It also covers running costs for the royal palaces, although maintenance of the fabric of the buildings is covered by other government grants.

The operational head of the royal household, Marshal of the Realm Ingemar Eliasson, was pleased by the extra money.

"The budget increase is very welcome after several years of severely curtailed grants," he said in a statement.

But Gudrun Schyman, former leader of the Left Party and a leading member of the Swedish Republican Association, said that the royals should not get any money from the state.

"The royal family no longer has a role to play. It does not belong in a modern democracy and it should therefore be natural for them to sort out their own finances," she told Aftonbladet.